Tire-protecting device.



PATENTED JUNE 9, 1908.

L. H. KINNARD. TIRE PROTECTING DEVICE. APPLICATION 'EILED nov.14, 190RENEWED JULY 6, 1907.

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PATENTBD JUNE 9, 1908.

L. H. KINNARD. I TIRE PROTECTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION PIL ED H0114, 1904. RENEWED JULY 8, 1907.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEONARD H. KINNARD, OF HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOROLLIN S. OHAMBERLIN, OF HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

TIRE -PROTE CTING- DEVICE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 9, 1908.

Application filed November 14, 1904;, Serial No. 232,554. Renewed July6, 1907. Serial No. 382,473.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD H. KINNARD, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Harrisburg, in the county of Dauphin and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inTire-Protecting Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in tire-protecting devices whichare especially applicable to the pneumatic tires of automobiles andother heavy vehicles. Its object is'to effectually protect such tires,with their good qualities retainechfrom various injuries includingpunctures, cuts, ruptures etc., to which they are commonly exposed iandwhich often suddenly render them useess. Y

The invention consists of the peculiar tireprotecting device which ishereinafter described and claimed.

On the accompanying sheets of drawings, Figure 1 is a side View of avehicle-wheel to which the invention is applied in a particular form;Fig. 2, a cross-section of the rim of this wheel and of the tire andprotectingdevice; Fig. 8, a crosssection of a wheel-rim and tire and ofthe protecting-device in a form differing from that shown in Figs. 1 and2 Fig. 4, a side view of. a vehicle-wheel and of another form of thetire-protecting device; and Fig. 5, a cross-section of the wheel-rim,tire, and protecting-device of Fig. 4.

Similar reference-numerals designate like parts in different views.

Each form of the protecting-device shown comprises an annular shieldwhich encompasses the tire and which is sufficiently stiff and strong tobe capable of retaining its true v secured together.

shape as the tire spreads under the action of the load upon it. Thisshield may be made of metal, or some other substance possessing therequisite qualities, and may be formed in one piece, or composed of twoor more rings It is preferable to make it of separable rings when it isintended for use on the wheels of large automobiles, so as to enable thedevice to be readily applied to and removed froma tire while the tire issecured to the rim' of a wheel. The tire of a large automobile is. sostifi that when it is on a wheel a shield consisting of a single ring,having the form illustrated in Fig. 3, cannot be forced on or off such atire, except possibly with very great trouble.

The invention is shown applied to a com mon automobile-wheel 1, theparts 2 and 3 being respectively the rim and pneumatic tire. Theparticular shield represented in Figs. 1 and 2 is composed of two rings,4 and 5, fastened together with several bolts such as the bolt 6. Theserings fit together on and near the plane which is midway between theedges of the shield. They are provided with tongues and grooves 7 and 8which engage with one another.

In Fig. 3 a shield 9 which is made in one piece is shown. A shield somade is preferred to one composed of a plurality of rings, provided atire to which the protecting device is to be applied is flexible enoughto render it easy to insert the deflated tire in a shield of a singlepiece.

The shield illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 is composed of a ring 10 and twosmaller rings 1'1 and 12. The smaller rings, which are of the same size,have on them dovetailed projections 13 which fit in recesses 14 cut inthe larger ring 10, these recesses being so formed that when the rings11 and 12 are turned on the ring 10, after the dovetailed projectionshave been inserted in the recesses, the smaller rings are attached tothe other. They are prevented from working loose by means of screws 15extending through portions of the rings 11 and 12 into the ring 10.

Similar dovetailed projections and recesses might be substituted for thetongues and grooves 7 and 8 shown in Fig. 2.

In whichever of the three forms described the shield is made itsinternal diameter at each edge is less than its internal diameter midwaybetween its edges, the latter diameter being substantially e ual to theexternal diameter of the tire, and t e diameter at each edge beingpreferably less than the external diameter .of the tire by a little morethan the tires tubular diameter.

The shield is secured on the tire by expanding the tire within theshield, which is made to fit close to the tire at the edges of theshield. The separable rings of a shield may be put together fromopposite sides of the tire, and may be separated to enable the shield tobe removed from the tire.

The shape in cross-section of the shield is preferably convexo-concaveas shown or approximately such, and it is desirable that its internalsurface should recede from the tire on each side of the innermostportion of the shield, so that spaces 16 or others similar may beprovided within the shield to enable the tire to change its shape in theshield under pressure, although the shield makes contact midway betweenits edges with the outermost portion of the tire.

The shield described is preferably faced on its exterior surface withrubber or flexible material containing rubber. 17 may be cemented orotherwise secured to the shield. When it is applied to the form ofshield shown in Figs. 1 and 2 it must be divided along the meeting edgesof the rings l and 5, where it may be clamped in a recess 18 between therings of the shield.

The shield may be used however without the flexible facing, and may ormay not be provided with a lining 19 as shown in Fig. 5. Because theshield shown and described envelops all of that ortion of a tire whichis outside of the cylin er of which the axis of the tire-tube is anelement, or in other words envelops more than one half of the externalsurface of the tire, and because the internal surface of the shieldrecedes from the tire on each side of the innermost portion of theshield as explained, this protecting device has several peculiaradvantages each of which is important. (1) It is so secured to the tireas to obviate danger of its becoming detached therefrom although thevehicle may be driven at high speed around corners and over rough roads.(2) It so reinforces the tire as to aid in preventing a hard shock frombursting it. (3) It enables a Vehicle to be safely run at moderate speedeven if the tire is deflated. (4) It enables the tire to yieldadequately without bending outward over the edges of the shield, so thatthe tire is not subjected to injurious wear where it makes contact withthe shield next to the edges thereof. (5) It may be applied to wheelssuch as are commonly and extensively used without rendering it necessaryto alter their form or construction, or making them unsightly, and iscapable of thoroughly protecting the tires of such wheels.

It is to be understood that a device embodying the invention may differsomewhat- This material of the tire and between its edges with theoutermost portion of the tire, and whose internal surface recedes fromthe tire on each side of the innermost portion of the shield, the stiflmaterial of the shield increasing in thickness from the edges to theoutermost portion of the shield.

2. A tire-protecting device comprising a stiff inexpansible annularshield whose internal diameter at each edge is less than the externaldiameter of the tire inflated, and which envelops I more than one halfof the external surface of the tire, and normally makes contact with thetire along the edges and midway between the edges of the shield, thestiff material of the shield being divided into separable parts.

3. A tire-protecting device comprising a stiff annular shield whoseinternal diameter at each edge is less than the external diameter of thetire inflated, and which envelops more than one half of the externalsurface of the tire, and normally makes contact with the tire along theedges and midway between the edges of the shield, and Whose internalsurface recedes from. the tire on each side of the innermost portion ofthe shield.

4. A tire-protecting device comprising a stiff annular shield whoseinternal diameter at each edge is less than the external diameter of thetire inflated, and which normally makes contact along its edges withboth sides'of the tire and between its edges with the outermost portionof the tire and whose internal surface recedes from the tire on eachside of the innermost portion of the shield, said shield being composedof separable parts and its edges being formed on different parts.

5. A tire-protecting device comprising a stiff annular shield whoseinternal diameter at each edge is less than the external diameter of thetire inflated, and which envelops more than one half of the externalsurface of the tire, and normally makes contact with the tire along theedges and between the edges of the shield, said shield being composed ofseparable parts and its edges being formed on different parts.

6. A tire-protecting device comprising a stiff annular shield whoseinternal diameter at each edge is less than the external diameter of thetire inflated, and which envelops more than one half of the externalsurface of the tire, and normally makes contact with the tire along theedges and midway between the edges of the shield, and whose internalsurface recedes from the tire on each side of of the tire and betweenits edges with the outermost portion of the tire said shield comprisinga ring which forms the larger and outermost portion of the shield, and asmaller ring separably secured to the other and extending inwardtherefrom, the inner edge of this smaller ring forming one of theedgesof the shield.

8. A tire-protecting device comprising a stiff annular shield whoseinternal diameter at each edge is less than the external diameter of thetire inflated, and which envelops more than one half of the externalsurface of the tire, and normally makes contact with the tire along theedges and between the edges of the shield, said shield comprising a ringwhich forms the larger and outermost portion of the shield, and asmaller ring separably secured to the other and extending inwardtherefrom, the inner edge of the smaller ring forming one of the edgesof the shield.

9. A tire-protecting device comprising a stifi annular shield whoseinternal diameter at each edge is less than the external diameter of thetire inflated, and which envelops more than one half of the externalsurface of the tire, and normally makes contact with the tire along theedges and midway between the edges of the shield, and whose internalsurface recedes from the tire on each side of the innermost portion ofthe shield, said shield comprising a ring which forms the larger andoutermost portion of the shield, and a smaller ring separably secured tothe other and extending inward therefrom, the inner edge of this smallerring forming one of the edges of the shield.

10. A tire-protecting device comprising a stiff annular shield whoseinternal diameter at each edge is less than the external diame ter ofthe tire inflated, and which normally makes contact along its edges withboth sides of the tire and between its edges with the outermost portionof the tire, said shield being composed of a ring which forms the largerand outermost portion of the shield, and two smaller rings separablysecured to the other and extending inward therefrom, the inner edges ofthese smaller rings forming the edges of the shield.

11. A tire-protecting device com rising a stiff annular shield whoseinternal c iameter at each edge is less than the external diameter ofthe tire inflated, and which envelops more than one half of the externalsurface of the tire and normally makes contact with the tire along theedges and between the edges of the shield, said shield being composed ofa ring which forms the larger and outermost portion of the shield, andtwo smaller rings separably secured to the other and extending inwardtherefrom, the inner edges of the smaller rings forming the edges of theshield.

12. A tire-protecting device comprising a stiff annular shield whoseinternal diameter at each edge is less than the external diameter of thetire inflated, and which envelops more than one half of the externalsurface of the tire and normally makes contact with the tire along theedges and midway between the edges of the shield, and whose internalsurface recedes from the tire on each side of the innermost portion ofthe shield, said shield being composed of a ring which forms the largerand outermost portion of the shield, and two smaller rings separablysecured to the other and extending inward therefrom, the inner edges ofthese smaller rings forming the edges of the shield.

13. A tire-protecting device comprising a stiff annular shield whoseinternal diameter at each edge is less than the external diameter of thetire inflated, said shield comprising a ring which forms the larger andoutermost portion of the shield, and a smaller ring separably secured tothe other and extending inward therefrom, the inner edge of this smallerring forming one of the edges of the shield, and said shield being facedwith flexible material secured to the larger ring only.

14. A tire-protecting device comprising a stiff annular shield whoseinternal diameter at each edge is less than the external diameter of thetire inflated, said shield being composed of a ring which forms thelarger and outermost portion of the shield, and two smaller ringsseparably secured to the other and extending inward therefrom, the inneredges of these smaller rings forming the edges of the shield, and saidshield being faced with flexible material secured to the larger ringonly.

LEONARD H. KIN NARD.

In presence of JOHN L. BATES, RoLLIN S. CHAMBERLIN.

